Toy



March 7, 1950 L. M. STEVENS, JR

TOY

Filed April 4,-194'7 INVENTOR. Lemuel M Sfevens Jr.

A'r'tomev barrel of the gun of Figure 1; and

'view illustrating a modified Patented Mar. 7, 1950 PATENT OFFICE TOY LemuelM. 'Stevens Jn, United States Navy Application August 4, 1947, Serial No. 765,860

The present .invention relates generally to toys. 11

More particularly this invention relates tocertain new and useful improvements in toy weapons of the type having an external shape simulating that of a machine gun or the like.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a toy weapon of the type described capable, upon rapid manual oscillation through an arc of relatively small amplitude, of realistically simulating the explosive noise produced by the firing of cartridges in a real machine gun.-.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy weapon of the type described which maybe readily and inexpensively manufactured by simply sawing the outline of the shape of the gun from a single block or panel of wood.

Additional objects of the invention are to 'provide a toy weapon of the type described which may be firmly grasped by both hands of the open ator, which is not easily susceptible to breakage,

and which embodies a minimum number of 'working parts requiring substantially no adjustment or repair during normal usage.

The foregoing as Well as other and further objects and advantages of the invention together with a clearer understanding of the precise nature thereof will become more readily apparent to one skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures of drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred form of toy weapon in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the gun barrel of Figure l illustrating two different operating positions of the parts in full and dotted lines, respectively;

Figure 3 is a front end elevational' view of the Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail elevation'alform of noiseproducing mechanism.

Referring now in more detail to the various figures of the drawing and in particular to Figure 1 thereof, my improved toy weapon is designated"- generally by reference numeral I0 and is seen to have an outline roughly similar to that of 'the well-known Thompson sub-machinegun. In the preferred.'embodiment illustrated in Figure 1,

the entire toy weapon is formed by suitably saw-" ing the outline of the shape of the gun from a single block or panel of Wood so that no assembly operations are required, the complete gun being formed in one operation as a single unitary structure. Although I may employ metal or any num--- I {o'er of different types of plastic material in the '2 Claims. (01. 46-491) and the stock I2.

same time produce highly realistic noise effects during operation of'the device in a manner to be I hereinafter more fully set forth.

turn is provided with a generally concave butt f6 adapted to snugly engage the shoulder of the user. A relatively small boss I8 is formed integralwith the stock 12 depending from the lower surface intermediate the front and rear ends of the latter and is provided with a generally concave forward edge 20 shaped and positioned in such manner as to simulate the trigger or trigger guard of areal gun. A handgrip 22 depends from the front end of the stock If and is provided with a generally concave forward edge 24 providing "a smoothly curved surface adapted to be firmly grasped by the hand of the user.

A barrel 26 extends forwardly from the front end of thestock l 2 and is slightly elevated in'such manner as to provide a sharp corner 28 permitting a, .line .of sight along the barrel when in use. At its front end the barrel .26 is provided with a blind hole 30 substantially circular .in cross section and having the appearance of the usual gun bore when viewed from the front as in Figure 3. It will also be noted in Figure 3 that the upper surface of the barrel 26 is smoothly curved in convex form as indicated by reference numeral 32 while the lower surface of the barrel 26 is entirely flat as indicated by reference numeral 3!.

A percussion member 36 of approximately the same length as the barrel 25 is also preferably formed integrally with the stock l2 and extends forwardly from the front end of the latter. As shown particularly in Figure 3, the percussive member 36 is substantially straight and is provided with a convex lower surface 38 and a flat upper surface 40, lying directly beneath the lower surface '34 of the barrel 26 throughout substantially the full length of the latter. In actual practice, as indicated above, the barrel 26 and percussive member 36 are formed at the same time by making of a single saw cut longitudinally from the left-hand end of the gun in Figure 1 towards the stock l2 thereby providing a tapered groove 42. It will also be noted in Figure 1 that Ihave provided a relatively narrow V-shaped notch 44 extending upwardly and rearwardl'y from the front edge 24 of the 'handgrip .22 adjacent the juncture of the percussive member '36 Although it is not absolutely essential to the operation of the device in accordance with the present invention, I have found that the notch 44 materally improves the functioning i the percussive member 38, probably by 1 themes y I, the resilience of the latter, to obtain a more realistic noise effect;

As indicated above and as illustrated in: ure 1, the percussive member 36 normally sags down slightly toward its extreme outer end due to its weight thereby causing the groove 42 to normally assmne a tapered appearance. In Figure 4, there is illustrated a slightly modified form of percussive member 36 wherein a Suitable weight end in a smoothly curved shoulder piece having a in the form of a flat strip 46 of metal or the like is secured to the end of the member 36 in any convenient manner as by means of a plurality,

of screws 48. The use of the additional weight is dependent upon the material of which the weapon is made and where anextremely stiff wood or similar material is employed such weight may materially improve the noise producing char 1 acteristics of the gun. I have found, however,

1. A toy weapon having an external shape simulating that of a machine gun and adapted to be manufactured substantially entirely by sawing 'theIoutline of said shape from a single block of wood comprising, a stock terminating at its rear generally concave butt, a relatively small boss depending from the lower surface of said stock intermediate the front and rear ends of the latter and having a concave forward edge simulating a' trigger, a hand'grip depending from the front end of said stock and having a concave forward edge, a barrel extending forwardly from the front end of said stock having a convex upper surface 'that Where a suitable closefgrained wood of the am a-fiat bottom surface means forming a blind rtype referred to above is employed, additional weights such as 46 are not required. Thus, to cite a specific example by way of illustration, I have found that no additional weights are required where the relative dimensions of thelarger elements of the gun are as follows: over-all length of gun, 37 inches: length of barrel, 23%

inches; length of notch, V2 inch.

Although the operation of the device will be largely apparent from the foregoing description, 25

it may be brieflv set forth as follows: The user grasps the gun by placing one hand aboutthe stock [2 in such manner that one or more of the 20 of the boss l8. The handgrip 22 is then grasped fingers extend around the concave forward edge a by the other hand of the user with the fingers snugly curled around the concave forward edge 24 of the latter. With the gun thus held in both hands, the concave butt I6 may be pressed snugly against the shoulder of the user and the entire gun manually oscillated rapidly in an aproxi- 1 mately vertical plane through arcs of relatively small amplitude thereby causing the upper flat surface of the percussive member 36 to sharply strike the lower flat surface 34 of the barrel 26 and thus produce a noise quite similar to the chatter of a machine gun. During such opera- ,tion of the device, the percussive member 36 between upper and lower limit positions '4 as illustrated in full and dotted lines, respectively,

in Figure 2 of the drawings.

While I have used the term machine gun hole of circular cross section in the front end of 'said barrel simulating a bore therein, a substan tiall straight percussive member of approximately the same length as said barrel extending forwardly from said stock and having a convex 'lower surface and a flat upper surface lying di-- rectly beneath the lower surface of said barrel and adapted to percussively contact the latter upon rapid manual oscillation of the weapon through an arc of small amplitude to simulate the explosion of cartridges in a machine gun, means forming a narrow V-shaped notch extending upwardly and rearwardly from the front edge of said handgrip adjacent the juncture of said member .and said stock, and a weight attached to the lower surface of said member adjacent the front end of the latter.

2. A toy weapon having an external shape simulating that of a machine gun and adapted to :be manufactured substantially entirely by sawing the outline of said shape from a single block of -wood comprising, a stock terminating at its rear end in a smoothly curved shoulder piece having a generally concave butt, a relatively small boss depending from the lower surface of said stock intermediate the front and rear ends of the latter .and having a concave forward edge simulating a trigger, a handgrip depending from the front end of said stock and having a concave forward 'edge, a barrel extending forwardly from the front end of said stock having a convex upper surface and a flat bottom surface, means forming a -blind hole of circular cross section in the front "be understood that this term is used in its generic" 5 end of said barrel simulating a bore therein a .sense and is thus intended to include such weappm as those technically known as sub-machine ,guns" of the type which my improved toy most closely resembles.

It is also to be understood substantially straight percussive member of approximately the same length as said barrel extending forwardly from said stock and having a convex lower surface and a flat upper surface ,that the extreme simplicity of my toy Weapon" lying directl beneath the lower surface of said costs in a highly competitive field. Furthermore,

this same simplicity in structure provides rela- -tive freedom from breakage or maladjustment in 0 means formi narrow v notch contrast to the relatively complicated working 'parts of the ratchet mechanisms or similar noise -producing devices now commonly used in toy weapons of this type.

Obviously numerous other modifications, alter- "ations, and deviations from the-specific struc- -,ture disclosed herein solely for the purpose of illustration will occur to one skilled in the art,

vclaim as novel anddesireto-seoureby -Letters barrel and adapted to percussively contact the latter upon rapid manual oscillation of the weapon through an arc of small amplitude to simulate the explosion of cartridges in a machine gun, and

tending upwardly and rearwardly from the front ,edge of said handgrip adjacent the juncture of ,said member and said stock.

LEMUEL M. STEVENS, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS and it is to be understood-that numerous changes can be made in size, materials, and arrangement eNumber. I Name Date ,5; 1,886,130 Smith Nov. '1, 1932 -;1,890;28 8. Gra'f Dec.6, 1932 j 2,376,921 Kel1y' May 29, 1945 

